County council approves spending funds for maintenance on fire tower

Vulcan County is spending up to $15,000 US (about $19,000 CAD) in a contingency fund for maintenance on the fire training tower and mobile props.

County staff have been doing most of the maintenance, but some service is beyond the abilities of staff and local contractors, said Stuart Larson, the County’s director of protective services.

“It’s very specialized equipment and it got to the point where it needs a tune-up, and we just can’t do it,” he told council.

The only technicians who could do the work are based out of the United States, said Larson.

It’s standard practice to pay a $10,000 US (about $13,000 CAD) deposit for the technician to attend the site, Larson told council.

“They’ve kind of got you – the only technicians are coming from the States,” said Reeve Jason Schneider. “They charge you whatever they want.”

Larson said the fire tower is used frequently by local departments, and other fire southern Alberta departments outside the county have also used the fire tower.

Asked by Schneider if departments outside the county pay to use the fire tower, Larson responded they are not asked to pay to use it the first time, to give the firefighters an idea of what’s there and how they could benefit from training on it, said Larson. But they are charged thereafter, he said.

Part of the cost recovery charged to those departments is to pay for the maintenance of the tower, said Larson.